‘Jersey Shore’ adds new cast member

Deena Nicole Cortese, a 23-year-old New Jersey native, has joined the cast of “Jersey Shore.” Her addition to the show’s gang of hard-partying twentysomethings was officially announced at a Friday meeting of the Television Critics Association. Cortese, who hails from New Egypt, N.J., joined the “Jersey Shore” cast on stage — except for outsider Angelina Pivarnick.

“Angelina didn’t fit in,” Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi later said.

“Yeah, it’s not for everybody,” Paul “Pauly D” Del Vecchio added.

“UPGRADE!” Cortese exclaimed.

Cortese, who was “partners in crime” with Snooki before heading to “Jersey Shore,” had widely been rumored to have joined the popular MTV reality TV series since production on new episodes began last month in Seaside Heights, N.J.

The tanned Cortese, who said she’s spent every summer on the Jersey shore since she was 17 years old, sported a big bruise on her knee Friday, calling it “a battle scar” recently earned from partying. As for the possibility of romance on the shore, Cortese said she isn’t ruling out the possibility of a fling with The Situation, Pauly D or any of her other castmates.